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Friday, 03 July 2009

The Ring

By Nancy Leitz

When Grandson Andrew was about 10 years old, I received a telephone call from him and we talked about his school and his friend, Tim, and about his dog, Benny. Just as we were about to say goodbye, Andrew very casually asked me what my ring size was. I replied that I thought I wore a size seven and wondered why he would be interested. "Oh, no reason, Nanny, just asking."

A few weeks later on Mother's Day, a package arrived at our house and along with a very nice gift from Carol and Ray and Ian. There was a small box from Andrew for me.

When I opened it, there was a beautiful ring with a lovely emerald in the center surrounded with brilliant diamonds. And, just so I would be sure to know that this was no cheap, junky ring, Andrew had left the price tag on the box. It was from Sears and cost $9.95, more than two weeks allowance for taking out the trash and emptying the dishwasher.

I tried it on and It fit perfectly, and I couldn't wait to send Andrew a lovely thank you note and tell him how much I loved the gift and what good taste he had.

About three months later, we received an invitation to Ray's niece, Julie Cohen's, wedding. Because I did not know Ray's brother and his wife very well, I called Carol and told her about the invitation and expressed surprise that we had been invited to the wedding. I told her that I was not certain that we would attend because we weren't very well acquainted and might feel strange being there.

Carol assured me that they had already told her that they would like us to be there and asked me to think about changing my mind about going. I told her I would give it some thought and let her know.

We had barely hung up when the phone rang again and this time it was Andrew. "Nanny, are you and Pop coming to Julie's wedding?"

"I don't know, Andrew. I just got the invitation today and I am considering whether or not to go."

"Oh, please, Nanny, you have to go. Everybody will be there. Please go."

"I know, but I don't know if we should be there."

By this time I was beginning to wonder why this young boy was so interested in whether or not we would be going to a wedding. I was soon to find out.

"Please, you really have to go."

"All right, Andrew, since you feel so strongly about it, we will go."

I heard a sigh of relief and then...

"That's good, Nanny, and wear your RING."

[EDITORIAL NOTE: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Instructions for submitting are here.]

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